Seeing Krishna in the coils of the serpent Kaliya, Krishna’s friends the cowherd boys and the other residents of Vrndavana were stunned with fear. When they saw Him overpowered by the coils of the serpent Kaliya, they fell to the ground.
At Fifty-ninth Street and Fifth Avenue the chariots are waiting. Forty feet high with spires atop. I bow to the statue of Srila Prabhupada which sits on an elegant throne in the second chariot.
The dingy loft, its rafters unpainted, was more like an old warehouse than a temple. The members of his audience, most of them musicians, had come to meditate on the mystical sounds of the Swami’s kirtana, his chanting.
Most people think they have no need for a spiritual master. In a sense, they are right. People interested only in an animal-like existence do not need a spiritual master. A spiritual master is required for a person who is inquisitive about transcendental knowledge.
“His American church”—yes, Srila Prabhupada had hope and determination. There was life in his lectures and kirtanas (chantings), his morning and evening gatherings in the loft. At least he was acquiring a small, regular following. But from India there was no hope.
Indians in the West can succeed materially. But the challenge remains: will they be able—and willing—to retain their cultural origins?
Krishna urged His father to concentrate on the activities of Vrndavana. Indra, He said, was simply bound to deliver water; he even pours rain on the ocean, where no one worships him.
The first written reference to Boston brahmanas was made by Oliver Wendell Holmes. In an essay published in 1860 Holmes wrote of the “brahmin cast of New England … the harmless and innocent, untitled aristocracy.
To live a satisfying life in perfect health is possible, but one must have actual knowledge of the body and the soul and of the purpose of health. This knowledge is given in the Vedic literature. By turning to the Vedas, we can go beyond the confusion caused by shortsighted views of health and happiness.
It is true that sometimes if a sincere devotee maintains some material attachment, Krishna will crush his material success so that he is left only with his attachment to Krishna. After all, material opulence in this world is temporary.
Dhruva’s stepmother said, “My dear boy, you cannot sit on the lap of your father. Although you are his son, you are disqualified because you have not taken birth in my womb.”
Americans tend to scorn India’s recent national ban on cow slaughter. We have difficulty appreciating the Hindus’ view that the cows are holy, and most Americans have little knowledge of how a rural economy like India’s is dependent on the life of the cow and her by-products.
Most of the Bowery’s 7,600 homeless men slept in lodging houses that required them to vacate the rooms during the day. Having nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, they would loiter on the street—standing silently on the sidewalks, leaning against walls, or shuffling slowly along.
There is a movement afoot to correct the worldwide abuse of the English language. Reformers claim that our abuse of words is crucially linked with the moral decline of our society.
I am trying to open a temple here because Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura wanted it. I think that after the temple has started, some men, even from America, may be available.
According to some anthropologists, the human being is essentially an animal. “It is clear that we are an extremely old animal, perhaps three million years old, and we were evolved to live as hunter-gatherers,” says a Rutgers University anthropologist Lionel Tiger.
Time noted recently, “surgery offices were under siege by callers who had seen the results of a notable example of cosmetic surgery, evident in before-and-after pictures of the former First Lady in the Sunday newspapers.
When Srila Prabhupadas bus arrived at the terminal, it was past midnight. Mr. Gopal Agarwal, his sponsor, was waiting with the familys Volkswagen bus to drive him to Butler, about an hour north.
Almost all of Prabhupada’s Bowery friends were musicians or friends of musicians. They were into music—music, drugs, women, and spiritual meditation.
In recent years thousands of religious figures have taken up faith healing. They use all kinds of approaches, but basically they claim that through their charismatic prayer and laying on of hands, God acts: He cures everything from cavities to brain tumors, releases sexual inhibitions, and even increases earning capacity.